UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

I think that it would be over the top for me to claim that this is an historic moment comparable to those associated with Gladstone; I shall settle for a lower level of ambition than that. My hon. Friend raises an important issue, however, about what those energy companies have been doing. The Chancellor's decision in the Budget to look into support for offshore wind was important, but we then come back to issues such as sorting out planning and grid access. People need to be convinced not just that there is a theoretical financial investment worth making in the UK, but that it will be made on time, that it will start, and that it will not be obstructed by planning rules. That is why it is regrettable that there is not all-party support for our planning reforms.